Why this site exists
Licensing facts are the kind of thing people restate without checking. Hour requirements, fees and eligibility rules get quoted confidently from sources that were wrong when they were written or have moved since.
Every requirement on this site is cited to the rule it comes from. Where sources contradict each other, the page names the contradiction instead of picking the more common number.
The path, roughly
You start as a registered apprentice working under supervision. You accumulate documented on-the-job hours over a period of years. At the point the rules allow it you sit the journeyman exam. Later, with more hours behind you and time held as a journeyman, you can sit for master.
Each of those steps has a number attached to it, and those numbers are where the bad information lives. This site gives each one with the rule it comes from.
Separately from any individual license there is a contractor license, which is a business registration rather than a personal credential and works differently.
The license is annual, which is unusual
A Texas electrical license runs one year and is renewed annually (16 TAC 73.22(a)). Most states run two or three.
That matters for planning, because continuing education attaches to every renewal rather than every third one.
What this site will not do
It will not tell you whether your specific hours qualify, whether your out-of-state experience counts, or where your application sits. Those are determinations, and only the licensing authority makes them.
Anyone else answering those questions is guessing with your time.
What this page cites
- 16 TAC 73.22(a) License term and annual renewal.